This Isn't Nba's Global Plan

Dave Fairbank

August 09, 2008|By DAVE FAIRBANK Daily Press

As the U.S. men's basketball team prepares to graciously poleax the Olympic hosts and reclaim our place atop the game's pyramid, it's worth noting that several Americans find the idea of dribbling abroad more appealing than doing so here.

By "appealing," we mean "lucrative," which is what elite-level competition has become here in the States, no matter how many times over the next three weeks you see some misty-eyed athlete on a medal stand at Beijing while his or her national anthem is played.

Now, don't go all Pierre de Coubertin and start spouting Olympic ideals and purity of competition soliloquies. Basketball simply provides a higher pay grade than gymnastics and swimming and just about any other pursuit to which NBC will inundate us.

Since NBA free agency began July 1, nine players who worked in the league last season have signed contracts to play overseas.

Most notable is Josh Childress, who turned down a reported five-year offer for $33 million from the Atlanta Hawks for a three-year, $20-million deal from the Greek power, Olympiacos.

Reserves Carlos Arroyo and Earl Boykins also signed multi-million dollar deals, Arroyo in Israel and Boykins in Italy. Six other NBA players, all foreign-born and who played elsewhere before coming to the league, also signed with European teams.

Add the fact that U.S. high schooler Brandon Jennings chose to sign a six-figure deal with an Italian club rather than endure a one-year college stopover, and you have a ... ummm ... well ... you have something.

Not an exodus. Not even a trend or a movement. More like a curiosity.

Right about now, you're thinking: Josh Childress? Earl Boykins? Call me when Kobe or LeBron or Kevin Garnett head across the pond.

That's not likely. Nor is it impossible. Players are at least intrigued, due to the combination of the NBA salary cap, a favorable exchange rate between the euro and the dollar, and the potential for tax-free income, since it's not unusual for European teams to cover players' taxes, over and above their annual salary.

All of that has led to a grand exercise in "What if ...?" between star players and the media, particularly those holed up in Beijing, where it beats keeping track of Wheezefest 2008 in the polluted soup that passes for local air during the downtime between games.

What if a European team offered you $30 million a year? Forty million? Fifty million? Would you take it? The consensus: You're damn skippy.

OK, next question: What if unicorns were real? Would you ride one?

The NBA doesn't seem concerned with this European trickle, which is typical for an outfit that paid more attention to baggy pants and Rasheed Wallace's vocabulary than to something that actually affected the games and the league's image to a far greater degree, i.e., the referees.

American basketball acted a little like the U.S. auto industry, which fell asleep long enough for Japanese cars to land in every other driveway.

U.S. basketball, meanwhile, exported the game to the point where the rest of the world greatly narrowed the gap, then paid the price as college kids and makeshift NBA all-star teams took some lumps in international competition.

The present system of recruitment and three-year commitments by NBA players and coaches is at least an acknowledgment that we cannot simply roll out the balls any more and intimidate other countries with our superior athleticism.

We must shoot and defend and hustle and play cohesively - all the qualities that our coaches impressed upon foreign hoopsters, who then put them into practice.

The NBA probably has little reason to worry about mass defections overseas. It's still the best and most challenging league in the world. The U.S. still has more of the best players, nearly all of whom aspire to play here professionally. More foreigners than ever play in the league.

Sure, some Russian oil gajillionaire could decide that he wants his very own American superstar and throws a Hummer full of money at him for a year or two. It's more likely that European clubs will target NBA reserves and the occasional starter.

Nothing wrong with that. Commissioner David Stern and the NBA's Big Thinkers wanted to expand the league globally. Consider it done.

They cannot be against competition. That would be un-American.

Dave Fairbank can be reached at 247-4637 or by e-mail at dfairbank@dailypress.com

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